kennyWA

Hey guys, just wanted to introduce myself! Name's Kenny. Just moved back up here to the Northwest(originally from here, been in Tennessee for 13 years though). I'm 24 and i work at a garage/wrecker service.

Dropped a car off in my wrecker yesterday and discovered this for sale, $1000:


96 Country. Need to get the brakes figured out(pedal goes to the floor), needs a muffler(previous owner had it straight piped), and a set of tires. Clean interior, very well maintained 4.0 HO(180k, but these things run forever right?), believe it's got the AW4 tranny. I jumped on it because I thought it was a good deal and I needed my own rig(been using my father's '62 CJ5 the last couple times I've been wheelin).

On to the things i noticed when I got home with it. Took it out in the pasture where it would be safe to check the drivetrain out. Transfer case seemed to be working good, tranny felt solid, everything was great. BUT, somethings going on in the front end. I measured from center of hub to fender and I'm sitting at 23.5" in back and 23" in front. so, it's lifted quite a bit? sits at 17" from factory right? Either way, I don't know enough to look at my front suspension and know if I have everything I'm supposed to and somethings binding up when I turn the wheel either direction. got some popping and jerking going on and looks like too much negative camber going on up there as well.. I still need to figure out what I've got for running gear in it. I know it's got a D35 in back, not sure about up front.

Anyway, looking to learn a lot here(lord knows i've got a lot to!) and make some new friends. Gonna do my best to research and figure out as much as I can on my own, but I'm hoping I can rely on some of you guys to help me out along the way. Any of you guys in Washington: I'm always down to turn some wrenches and put away some beers!

88jeepcherokeexj

welcome, nice to see someone else from washington on here. also your front axle is a dana 30

kennyWA

Thanks, man. Where bouts you at? So I've got a 35 and a 30, eh? Not a bad starter rig. what'a we got for wheel bearing assemblies up front? the whole knuckle gets replaced, right? pretty sure mine are shot, still gotta get the front end up in the air and push and pull on stuff, but it's pretty obvious that they're done.

ol"blue

odgreen

Welcome Kenny! And for wheel bearings we have unit bearings.
The only thing is that you will need a 12 point 13mm socket to pull em out. Oh and a 36mm to take the axle nut off. I got em down to 8 min a side... Might take a normal person 30 min-a hour per side.

odgreen

And I'm south of you in Vancouver wa

mehoff_400

welcome....

kennyWA

Thanks guys. Lookin forward to some future meets. Gotta knock out a few things with the rig first.

Thanks for the info. Been researching non stop for 4 days now and driving the wrecker in between. I wish I could figure out what I have for suspension brand-wise. It's about a 5".. adjustable short arms, a pretty beefy adjustable track bar. I noticed the crossmember for the transfer case has about 3/4" spacers to drop it down? I assume that's for my driveline angles? Shocks are white with no logos. In back I have a pretty tall(6in) shackle on the rear of my leafs. I'll get it all sorted out. Probably just gonna tear it all apart and clean and paint everything axle/steering wise. Aside from the wheel bearing, the driver side, front outer axle, and u-joint are probably bad as well, too. I've got like -5 degrees of camber up there... The tear down's gonna have to wait until next week. Got our Christmas Tree Run out at Elbe on saturday. It's late! Off to bed for me. Have to force myself because I'm obsessed with these forums and learning about the XJ..

Richliveshots

Welcome to the forum Kenny! From Olympia as well! Looks like you picked up a nice starter rig.
Who are you driving for? Sure we will see each other around.

kennyWA

Thanks man. Yeah it's a pretty nice find for $1000. I drive for Boyd's Towing on black lake. Not a huge operation. But it pays the bills. Two trucks. Got a shop and a junk yard. Do a lot of work for law enforcement so don't drive drunk otherwise it might be me who comes and impounds your ride! Where abouts in Olypmia are you? I'm on Steamboat.

bullettooth2008

Welcome from across the pond.

Richliveshots

Im out by the Briggs Y Yelm Hwy and Henderson.

kennyWA

Man there's tons of you guys around me! Awesome!